New York Garbage Found Fit for Burial

NEW YORK — Federal authorities Friday declared 3,100 tons of garbage aboard a barge safe for disposal in a municipal landfill, moving the refuse another step toward the end of its two-month odyssey in search of a home.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said final chemical tests performed on samples taken during a May 4 inspection off Key West, Fla., found the trash contained nothing that posed a threat to health.

Officials said there is no reason the refuse cannot safely be returned to Islip, N.Y.--the Long Island community where it began its journey on March 22--as soon as state officials devise a means of getting it there.

Madeline Lewis, a state environmental spokeswoman, said the results of state chemical tests would be released at a hearing in state Supreme Court in Queens on Tuesday that will determine the fate of the refuse.